Someone Else
by RAfan2421
Summary: Mitsuha didn't have a boyfriend, per se, but she definitely had admirers.


**Summary: Mitsuha didn't have a boyfriend, per se, but she definitely had admirers.**

oOo

It started with basketball of all things.

Mitsuha Miyamizu.

He wondered just where did she learn how to play basketball so well. He'd watched her play one afternoon almost by chance, passing by the gymnasium with his friends when they heard the shouts and laughter from within. She was magnificent, her movements full of grace and elegance, her form lithe and smooth. That was when he first started taking notice of her.

And then, he noticed other things, like where in the world did she get that confident, almost cocky attitude of hers in the art room that one day when she finally stood up to her bullies.

It's as if he was looking at her in a completely new light. She'd always been quiet, almost unnoticeable. Sticking to her friends, always unwilling to make the waves that her father always made. He supposed he'd known that she'd been quite attractive for a while now, but he'd hardly really _noticed_, if only because she was quite the wallflower.

All he really knew about her back then, though, was that she was the mayor's daughter, and the _miku_ of the local shrine.

But one day she changed, and he certainly wasn't the only one who noticed. Of course, at first everyone thought that the pressures of being the local shrine maiden and the mayor's daughter had caused her to lose her mind, since on one particularly memorable school day she simply lost her memory of everything, even her own name.

But she came around pretty quickly.

Now, people noticed other things; noticed just how pretty she could be with her hair up in a ponytail and a confident, self-assured smile on her face.

The admirers came thick and fast then. Groups of people watched her play simple pick-up games in the afternoons. Even the more popular boys in the class were interested; no matter how much they feigned apathy, you could always tell by the glares their girlfriends leveled at Miyamizu. Love letters and roses; every time she received one he gritted his teeth.

It wasn't as though he really knew the girl or anything, they were but classmates, except, well, now he wanted to.

You don't have a chance, he reminded himself. You've not said a single kind thing to her in years, even if you didn't agree with some of the more overt bullies in their year. You're just as bad as everyone else for not trying to help her at all.

Still, one day, they wound up on the same team in a game, except disaster struck almost immediately as Miyamizu slipped on the floor and went crashing to the ground.

Sprained ankle, she told those gathered around her with a grimace.

He volunteered to help her to the nurse's office, surprising even himself with his offer and the speed at which he made it.

She gave him a pained smile and they're on their way, his arm under hers as they slowly walked across the school.

"Man, she is gonna kill me," was what he heard escaping the girl's lips.

"Come again?" He asked, and he's pleased to note that he doesn't stutter, although the words come out a bit higher than normal.

"Ah, it's nothing," Miyamizu responded, a smile on her face. "Thanks for taking me."

He shrugged nonchalantly, or at least he hoped it looked that way. "Figured it was the least I could do after everything that's happened in the past."

He could almost feel her drawing away from him, even if she still leaned the vast majority of her weight onto him, and hurried to reassure her.

"Oh no, I was never one of _them_." He said hurriedly, but then his face fell.

"I just never did anything to stop them." He said, ashamedly.

Miyamizu was looking at him with an indecipherable expression on her face.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" was all he could really come up with.

Slowly shaking her head, expression cold, she responded "Unforgivable."

"Wha- bu-but..."

And suddenly the girl was giggling, almost doubled over with laughter.

"Your face! Oh god, it feels good to do that to someone. Tessie and Sayaka have gotten used to my weird quirks now, and they don't even react anymore."

He blushed crimson, even if he's secretly glad for all the attention.

"It's alright, at least you have a guilty conscience about it. I suppose I could've been mad, but staying mad at the entire school except Tessie and Sayaka probably wouldn't be fun to live through and I don't want to ruin her life that much, even if she can be bloody annoying, spending all my money." She muttered the last part under her breath, but he strained his ears, catching every word.

"Why does your relationship with the school ruin Sayaka's life?" He asked curiously.

She grinned awkwardly. "Ah, it's nothing! I was just talking to myself again."

"Oh... We're here!" He said, seeing the entrance to the nurse's office appear at the end of the hallway.

"Ah, thanks. I'll see you in class then," the girl said, right before she's taken in by the veritable whirlwind of a woman that was their nurse.

A walk across school had never felt so short.

oOo

When he went and said hello to her the next day, she merely blinked in surprise. He's a little hurt by it all, but he supposed after almost eleven years of ignoring her maybe he deserved it, even if he did help her the day before.

He also noticed that her hair was back in her usual style, the red cord tied carefully to keep her bangs out of her face.

"Uhm, you know Miyamizu, I...thought your hair looked better when you tied it back."

He's not sure what made him blurt _that_ particular line out, but he really did wish in that moment that the ground would suddenly just swallow him up whole.

She gave him a weird look, but after a moment of speculation it's as if a lightbulb went off in her head, for she suddenly smiled and said in a quiet voice, "Thanks."

He doesn't remember much else of that conversation, but he doesn't need to, because what mattered was that she _smiled _at him. The sense of almost giddiness that welled up within him lasted throughout the entire day.

It's a start, he thought.

oOo

Somehow, some way, Miyamizu made the white robes of her shrine maiden outfit look hot.

He flushed red at the thought and turned away, knowing that if he isn't discreet about his staring his friends are sure to notice this development. Instead, he focused on the other girl. Yotsuha, was it? Miyamizu's little sister.

They're both clearly well-practiced and took their duties seriously, despite the blush that he couldn't help but notice color Miyamizu's cheeks.

He doesn't get a chance to speak with her after the ceremony ended; he searched desperately, waited for hours, but she seemed to have disappeared.

Still, he made a point to approach her the next day.

"I went to see the ceremony yesterday." He blurted out, twiddling his thumbs in nervousness as he attempted to ignore the stares from her friends and his. "You were really good! You guys were really in sync and it was awesome watching the ritual."

He looked up only to find her face resembling that of a ripe tomato. Had he said something embarrassing?

"T-thanks." She managed to get out.

Baffled, he turned to her friends.

"Did I do something wrong?"

They chuckled and shook their heads, waving off his concerns.

"Don't worry about it. You'll find that Mitsuha here isn't quite as enthusiastic about her work as _someone_ clearly is."

It was his turn to blush, and he muttered something resembling a farewell before bolting... straight into his friends, all of whom had been close enough and had definitely been listening and for the love of all that was holy _why_?

He could only shake his head in resignation at the Cheshire cat grins they sported, even as he was dragged off to his interrogation.

oOo

One afternoon, he caught Miyamizu with her two friends sawing away at some wood beside one of the vending machines.

"Yo!" Miyamizu beckoned him over, grinning widely.

He approached, watching curiously as Teshigawara carefully put the finishing touches on what looked like a bench.

"What are you up to?"

"Hehe, wouldn't you like to know? Well, I present to you our roadside cafe, the very first of Itomori! And you are our first customer!"

He wasn't _quite_ able to hide his skepticism, which must have showed on his face because she wagged her finger at him disapprovingly.

"Nuh uh! Don't you start judging before you've even given it a shot."

"Okay…" he said hesitantly, taking a seat on the bench. It wasn't the most comfortable seat he'd ever sat in, but he was far too curious about what was going on to notice.

"Well, here you are, our very own menu! Please let us know what you would like!"

Attempting to keep an open mind, he ordered a simple caramel iced coffee, curious despite himself.

Whatever he was expecting, it certainly _wasn't_ a tall glass of cool dark liquid that surprisingly _did _have that hint of caramel to give that bittersweet duality he liked in his coffee.

"How did you manage this?" He asked in wonder. "I know there isn't caramel coffee in any of the vending machines."

"Hehe," Miyamizu laughed, smirking at him.

"Trade secret." she winked.

"This _is_ really good, Miyamizu." he said, sipping his drink again.

"I'm glad." She responded, "because that'll be five hundred yen please."

He choked.

oOo

There really wasn't anything to do in their town; in Itomori. He supposed if they were both of age, he could've just suggested either of the two bars (seriously, who decided that it would be a good idea to have two bars but no movie theaters or legitimate cafes or anything of the like for...young people?) within the town, but alas...

None of that mattered yet though, because he was pretty sure that Miyamizu had no clue what he was even planning. They'd begun chatting with each other in some of the classes they shared, and he'd made sure not to let a hint of his feelings slip.

Right. His feelings.

He was going to ask Mitsuha Miyamizu to accompany him on a date.

He was going to _confess_.

Lord, was this what all of her admirers had gone through?

Because if so, he had no idea how the hell she'd had so many. This was... oh... only the most torturous experience of his young life. And most of _them_ had barely even spoken a word to her!

_He_ had known her for weeks now; they'd been having proper interactions in their classes whenever her other friends were busy.

Miyamizu had proved to be quite confusing; she could go from charming and outgoing one day to more reserved and pensive the next, scribbling something in her notebook that she let nobody touch. But no matter what mood she happened to be in, he only fell harder.

This was going to be _impossible_. He groaned.

He paused in front of a local store which sold all sorts of clothes, staring through the window. He needed a new kimono, his old one was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable to wear with each formal event that passed. Besides, there'd be an opportunity to wear it soon. The comet was nearing its point of closest approach any day now, and the town had made a celebration of it; a party of sorts where the entire village would go watch it pass by as a sort of-... some sort of- social...

Gods he could be so stupid sometimes.

He entered the shop, the tinkle of a bell announcing his arrival. From somewhere in the back a voice shouted out, muffled by distance.

"I'll be with you in a moment!"

He didn't pay the busy shopkeeper any mind, amd instead headed straight for the racks for formal wear.

"Light blue, or green?" He mused to himself, staring at himself in the mirror.

As he compared the benefits, the door to the shop swung open once more, revealing three middle school girls that traipsed in.

The shopkeeper's voice appeared to have grown fainter. Either the man had moved further away, or he wasn't shouting quite as loudly as he had for him.

He spared the girls a glance even as they headed towards the aisle behind his, the one that contained female formal wear, before returning to his browsing.

As he was about to pick up another kimono which had caught his eye, he heard one of the girls' voices rise in agitation.

"Yuuna, I don't think you understand how serious I am. My sister's legitimately losing it. Like, actually losing it. I was suspicious when I'd sometimes find her groping herself when I went to wake her up, but lately she just hasn't been making any sense!"

"I'm sure you're just overreacting, Yotsuha."

He did a double take at the name. It couldn't be...!

The girl's voice, Yuuna's he presumed, floated over to him, "-sister seems perfectly normal... No scratch that. She seems even better than normal. More outgoing, more confident, better at sports. Plenty of boys chasing after her. I'm jealous of you, Yotsuha. I wish I had such a cool older sister."

A literal growl of frustration came from very close behind him. They must have been quite literally right behind him, separated by only the thin aisle of clothes.

"Okay, how do you explain this? This morning, she just took off for Tokyo!"

Twin gasps met her words. He'd abandoned what he'd been doing as well, leaning back against the rack of clothes behind him as he dropped all pretense of not eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Tokyo?"

"H-how?"

"I don't know," came Yotsuha's grim reply. "Said she had a date."

His stomach plummeted like a stone, and it was only through supreme willpower and a desire to not get caught that prevented him from bolting out of the shop at that very moment.

"A date? She has a boyfriend in Tokyo?!"

"That's the thing, she never mentioned anything about a date in Tokyo. I asked her, and can you believe what she told me? She said that the date wasn't for her! Who the hell goes on a date that wasn't for her?"

"Are you sure she wasn't just lying to throw you off the scent."

When Yotsuha next responded, she sounded less sure, although still with the same indignation. "No, but I think I would've known if she had some secret boyfriend in Tokyo. How would they have even met?"

"Ah, my dear Yotsuha, have you ever heard of... the Internet?"

There was a groan, followed by some dark muttering. "Whatever, I'm not in the mood to go shopping anymore. C'mon, let's go."

His stunned gaze locked onto the form of the dark-haired little sister, watching her braids bounce as she filed out the door.

"She's a bit young, dontcha think?"

He jumped in shock, only to find the grinning shopkeeper laughing at him.

He left the shop soon after.

oOo

He doesn't manage to muster up the courage to ask her, even if the opportunity presented itself soon thereafter. He caught her getting off the train from Tokyo; it was late, and she didn't question just how odd it was that he simply happened to be walking past the train station just as she arrived.

He walked her home, but she doesn't really talk; her eyes are stormy, staring at something far away, a swirling vortex of sadness and longing that he wished was directed at _him_ instead. But of course she wasn't thinking of _him_, and it's made clear as they approached her house where she appeared to gather herself together and forced a smile on her face, and in that moment he couldn't help but feel that he'd lost something he'd never really had. His mouth opened as she paused and turned to him outside her front door.

"Thanks for walking me back." She said, but it was subdued and lacking her usual confidence, and maybe it was something in her expression because the words died on his lips.

_Please come see the comet with me tomorrow._

But instead he said, "It was nothing. See you tomorrow."

They parted ways, and at that moment he thinks maybe he's lost his chance.

oOo

The next day was a blur. A confused mess of emotions. Confusion, fear, and overwhelming sadness filled him as he watched a giant space rock destroy his town, the only place he'd ever known.

Confusion that it was Miyamizu of all people who sought him out, pushing him to safety before anybody had any idea of what was happening. Would happen.

Fear as he pushed through the crowd, unable to find her.

And then overwhelming sadness as he found her, watched her cry, sobbing into her father's shoulder as they watched their town quite literally was erased.

Soon after she moved to Tokyo. He told himself to forget about her. That she would probably be with her boyfriend soon. It doesn't make the news any easier to swallow.

But he could move on.

Fate had other ideas.

oOo

University took him down South, to Fukuoka. By some act of God his entrance exams had gone miraculously well, at least for a boy from a small rural town. At university, he'd studied architecture, if only because his dream had become to rebuild his old town. Of course, nothing could be built in the rocky crater where his town once stood, but the site around the crater wasn't occupied. He'd figured why the hell not, he'd give it a go.

Four years later, and he was job hunting. Fukuoka was nice, but four years here was enough. He spent days staring at a map. Where should he go?

Up north to Sapporo? Maybe another coastal town like Fujisawa?

In the end, though, it isn't much of a choice. He gets an offer he couldn't refuse.

His finger traced the city.

Tokyo.

oOo

Adjusting to living in Japan's largest metropolis hadn't been easy. Fukuoka was bigger than anything he'd ever known in the past, but nothing had prepared him for the sheer size of Tokyo.

He'd managed though, and after the first two weeks he'd stopped having to check his mobile GPS to ensure he didn't get lost.

His new job was stressful. They'd never had long hours at Itomori, most places closed at seven or eight.

But with his projects and his teams, there was always more work to be done. He'd worked later, sometimes not arriving home to his quaint little apartment that he'd rented until almost eleven.

Still, if nothing else, he'd made a decent living for himself. He'd even been able to send enough home to help his parents and even save a little bit for himself on the side. He was adjusting well, slowly settling into the routine.

Of course, that was when Fate decided that it was high time Miyamizu reentered his life.

oOo

It felt like no time had passed at all. They'd bumped into each other at a small food stall, each in too much of a hurry to sit down and properly eat lunch. He was late to a meeting, but of course everything flew straight out of his mind when she showed up.

For a second, he was in too much shock to even say a word. Miyamizu didn't appear to have remembered him, instead fiddling with her phone as she waited for the line to move.

"Miyamizu, is that you?"

Her head popped up, and he was struck by how _different _she looked. Back in school, right up until only a few weeks before the comet, she'd been incredibly introverted, sticking to her friends and unwilling to announce her presence. Of course, that made her all the more appealing when she revealed just how talented _and_ beautiful she was; not the attractiveness of a pretty face but rather the in-your-face kind of beauty that only a few people ever manage to achieve. The one that turned heads and made you stare long after she'd passed you on the street.

And now, years later, just when he'd begun to see her as nothing more than a high school crush, here she was, standing in front of him in Tokyo, her eyes positively _gleaming_ with hope and excitement, shining in anticipation as she sought to find whomever it was that had called out her name.

Then, as their eyes met, that light in her eyes vanished, and although her smile hadn't faltered in the slightest he couldn't help the twinge in his gut.

It wasn't _him_ that she'd been excited to see.

Sure, they'd spend the entire time at the stall chatting, before promising to meet up again the next week, but that nagging feeling wouldn't go away.

_She wasn't excited to see _you. _She wished you were someone else._

oOo

It was almost funny, how different their interactions were now that they'd left school behind.

Miyamizu had matured since their high school days. She wasn't as brash and cocky as she was during those weeks before the comet, but she walked with a quiet surety to her. Most noticeably, however, was simply this intangible air of _sadness_ to her that made her feel far older than twenty-five. It had only been a few years since they'd last spoken, but it felt much, _much_ longer. As if it were a whole new lifetime.

On Monday, the day Miyamizu was off from work at the ring store and so would have time to catch up, he woke up three hours too early, positively bouncing with excitement. He'd taken the day off from work, but he'd felt no regret at using one of his precious vacation days because, even if they hadn't said anything of the sort at the food stall, they were going to spend the day together. They were going to grab some food at the local cafe (Miyamizu's favorite), maybe catch a movie.

Alone.

_It was a date._

Eight years too late, perhaps, but he'd finally gotten a date. _The_ date that he'd wanted; wished for, all those years ago.

Three showers, four changes of clothes, two different colognes, and a whole lot of swearing courtesy of a stubbed toe later, he stood at their meeting place, fifteen minutes early, pacing around nervously in circles.

What should he say to her? What did she think of him? Was the cologne too strong?

Before he knew it, fifteen minutes had passed.

Then thirty.

Then forty-five.

And right as he was about to give up hope; when he was ready to accept that perhaps she'd forgotten (the pang in his heart _hurt_), she appeared, cheeks flushed cutely, makeup smudged, clutching her handbag and looking indescribably excited and _happy_.

"Miyamizu-" was as far as he got before she burst out:

"I _found_ him!"

oOo

Taki Tachibana (or _Taki-kun_) was tall, well-mannered, exceedingly handsome, athletic… honestly the only aspect in which he felt demonstrably superior to Tachibana was architecture. But even then, once he'd seen the sketchbooks that Taki produced when Mitsuha had introduced him (with a giggle and a smile that simply twisted the knife a little deeper) he couldn't help but admit that Tachibana had talent. The visualization of the projects that he'd wanted to complete were stunning, and a small part of himself couldn't help but admit that it was an absolute _crime_ that nobody had hired him.

Maybe it was just that atrocious suit of his.

Then of course, he'd flipped to another page and gasped.

"H-how did you… did you visit Itomori in the past?" He stuttered out in shock.

The two shared a smile, a smile that spoke of familiarity, a shared intimacy that ran deeper than he'd ever seen or felt in his entire lifetime.

"Taki and I, we shared dreams. _Memories _of each other. He's seen Itomori through my eyes."

"H-how? What?"

"We don't understand how it works very well either, only that Musubi had tied us together for the longest time. From what I can remember, we literally swapped bodies. I would live a day in Taki's life while he would live one in mine. It would happen randomly, and we wouldn't know it was happening until we woke up."

"Made for quite a few awkward situations, let me tell you." Taki said, grinning.

Miyamizu smacked him in the back of his head. "That's right! I forgot that you were a complete and utter pervert."

Tachibana's face turned red and he spluttered, "W- I was a teenaged boy, and overnight I grew _boobs_. What did you expect? And honestly, don't tell me _you_ didn't take a peek either!?"

Now it was Miyamizu's turn to be embarrassed, face reddening as her silence condemned her.

Unbidden, an old memory drifted to the forefront of his mind.

"_I was suspicious when I'd sometimes find her groping herself when I went to wake her up,_"

So that's what caused all those changes in Miyamizu. Miyamizu herself hadn't changed, he'd just been interacting with someone else in her stead. Someone who, quite clearly, had grown closer to Miyamizu than he could have ever managed.

The disappointment struck at his gut, a real palpable feeling of loss. He couldn't stay here any longer.

He came back to reality just in time to see Tachibana duck under Miyamizu's playful attempt at a second smack, laughing as he said, "We may have lost our memories of that time together, but we'd always be able to find each other. I'm just glad I decided to take that train that day."

Their feelings for each other were incredibly obvious. Yeah, he never stood a _chance_.

"Well, I'm happy for you." he managed to get out. He was proud of himself for that.

A few minutes later, he made up an excuse, and quietly left the cafe behind him.

oOo

See, the hardest part was that it wasn't as though he'd really lost anything. Miyamizu had never been _his_, but that thought didn't provide him with any comfort. He wasn't proud to admit it, but he ignored Miyamizu's texts and phone calls for two weeks. It would have been much longer too, had Tachibana of all people not knocked on his door to inquire if he was alright.

"Miyamizu was worried sick about you," the boy confessed. "I was too, once I saw how much she cared for you. She wanted to come today too, but she's running a high fever and I didn't want her to faint on the way. Not that she would've cared, so I had to slip her some sleeping medicine when she wasn't paying attention."

Tachibana looked exhausted and dishevelled, and, despite his best attempts to hate the boy, he couldn't find it in him to turn him away. Not when he looked like he was being run ragged.

"I'm doing alright, Tachibana." he said curtly. "I'm sorry for ignoring her messages, I've just been busy with my new project."

If he thought that was enough to push him away, he was sorely mistaken. The boy stayed around for the next half hour, chatting about nothing in particular, always awkwardly dancing around topics, but it was painfully obvious what he wanted.

And honestly, the boy wouldn't leave.

"We can meet sometime when Miyamizu is better, alright?" He said finally.

And so, despite his best attempts to maintain distance, over the months that followed, he slowly grew closer to the couple. And despite his sincere efforts at continuing to ignore the boy's very existence, he grew fond of Tachibana, seeing in the boy an enormous talent for architecture. Miyamizu too, seemed to glow in his presence. Their lives were quite idyllic, and while his was decidedly _not_ (he'd yet to find a girlfriend), he supposed that it couldn't be all bad now that he'd picked up three new friends and reconnected with an old one. And, well, even if he spent an inordinate amount of time moping about his apartment after Miyamizu first showed up with Tachibana on her arm, he'd learned to accept it once he saw how perfect they were for each other.

So it came as a massive shock to him when one day Miyamizu showed up on his doorstep, tears in her eyes as she explained how she and Tachibana had fought. He was almost tempted to simply offer some condolences and leave, having no desire to reopen old wounds, but she begged and he could never quite say no to her.

"Taki kept pushing me to reconcile with my family," she began, and he couldn't help but notice the casual usage of Tachibana's first name. Had they grown so close in only a few measly months? "He said that from his perspective, my father really did regret leaving us after my mother died. He said it became clear to him when my father ordered the evacuation of Itomori that he cared about me and he was willing to listen to what I had to say no matter how far-fetched it sounded."

She paused, frustration evident in her expression.

"I'm assuming you didn't take it too well." He remarked dryly.

She shook her head.

"He doesn't _understand_. _His_ father didn't leave him when his mother died. What right does he have to tell me how to handle _my_ family relationships? And plus, if he's _so good_ with people, then why isn't he able to hold a conversation with _his_ father for longer than two sentences? Why does he go _alone_ every year back to his grandmother's house for Obon instead of with his dad?"

The crack in her voice betrayed just how upset Miyamizu was, and with a start he realized that, well, this was his chance, so to speak.

Miyamizu and Tachibana were made for each other, he knew. This was obvious every time he saw them together. He didn't know much about Tachibana, but he had never seen Miyamizu appear so animated, so happy and alive as she did whenever Tachibana was by her side.

They wouldn't fight very often.

And yet, here was an opportunity to push them apart. To drive that wedge between them. And if they split, who knew what the future would contain?

He considered it for but a brief moment.

"You know, maybe he doesn't understand, but if he wants you to reconcile with your father, that can only come from good intentions, right? I mean, it's not like he's doing all this to hurt you. He's doing it all because he thinks it'll help you, no matter how misguided it might be."

Miyamizu shook her head stubbornly. "I- that's not the point! I just, it's that _attitude_ of 'this is what's best for you' that infuriates me. How can he possibly know that?"

He shook his head. "You're just searching for reasons to be upset now. Be honest, what's _really_ bothering you?"

Miyamizu crossed her arms, a look of petulance crossing her face. "Nothing's bothering me. Taki's just being an ass."

The sight of Miyamizu with her arms crossed, nose stuck in the air with a pout, was too comical. He cracked up.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, so did she, and they started laughing.

"Oh Miyamizu, don't use that expression ever again. It looks awful on you," he chuckled.

"I think it looks fine." She gave a hmph of disdain, but she couldn't hide the smile in her voice.

He shrugged, the humour in the situation slowly fading. "So what's the big deal?"

Mitsuha sighed. "It's Taki. He just… it's like he's a girl magnet. I'm pretty sure his entire workplace knows by now that I'm his girlfriend and yet, he still receives anonymous love letters at his desk. I can't help but remember too that all those confessions I received back in high school; well, there were quite a few confessions from _girls_ as well."

"So you're jealous?" he asked incredulously, staring at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"I-" her face fell. "I really screwed up, didn't I?"

He pushed her to the door. "Go talk to him."

As he watched her sprint out of his apartment, he was surprised to realize that there were no lingering traces of regret.

He smiled. Things would be better now.

_fin_

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


End file.
